Taylor 'Thread the Needle' Mcclain
by Lollipop1141
Summary: Five times Keith pined after Taylor (aka Lance) and one time he was terribly mistaken. A Garrison Klance fanfic. Taylor!Lance Au. crossposted at AO3.


This is my first Klance fic and it just had to be some sort of crack ship. Oh well. I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own VLD nor any of its characters. If I did, I would put more Klangst but make Klance canon. ;)

* * *

1.

He was the shortest out of all the cadets, about the size of a peanut. Sizing up the length of his arms, Keith wondered how he would be able to reach the controls or if his feet could even touch the pedals.

Apparently one of the new recruits voiced his concern – a big boy with a yellow band tied around his forehead. "Please don't crash the simulation. Please don't crash it."

The short one laughed, saying confidently, "Me? Crash? Please, they called me 'The Tailor' because of how I thread the needle."

He crashed the simulation.

Keith learned two things that day. First, the short kid's name was Taylor and second, 13-year-old Keith was very very gay for him.

2.

He was supposed to say something. Anything. But his tongue stayed stuck to the roof of his mouth.

Taylor glared up at him, index finger jutting up under Keith's chin and declared, "From now on, you and I are rivals. **I'll** be the one taking that last fighter pilot seat."

His insides flared into something warm and fierce as he stared into those deep, blue eyes that gleamed with challenge. He could use a challenge.

His tongue unstuck and he planned to say something cool along the lines of 'back at you' or 'my pleasure'.

What came out instead was, "Whatever you say, pipsqueak."

Horror filled his entire being as Taylor exploded, probably sensitive about his short height, and a string of Spanish spilled out of him.

"I hope you crash and burn, mullet!"

"Leave my hair out of this!"

"Your hair's outdated by a century!"

"Well, your face is outdated!"

Luckily, Taylor's friend dragged him away before he could pounce at Keith, his fist still waving in the air. Keith kept his glare until they were well out of sight. And then the whole situation crashed on him. Groaning, he stormed back to Shiro's dormitory.

Curse him and his stupid mouth and his stupid lack of social skills.

3.

"It's not fair, Shiro!"

Shiro hummed in response as he scrolled through his list of students, the coffee steam curling the tips of his hair. "What isn't fair, Keith?"

Keith slammed the door behind him and marched to the table in the middle of the living room. "Taylor. He's always one-upping me."

"Is that so?" Shiro raised an eyebrow. Taylor wasn't an uncommon name, but there was no male Taylor he could recall being in Keith's class nor were there any in the roster of new recruits. "What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing!" Keith angrily poured milk into his bowl and then unceremoniously dumped the cereal in. "There's only one spot left in the fighter pilot class and he and I are basically tied. Why can't he try harder?"

By this time, both of Shiro's eyebrows were raised. If he recalled correctly, the only one tied with Keith was – "Are you sure it's really him?"

Keith's spoon hovered in the air and he stared at Shiro. "Uh, short Cuban boy? Loud? Always picking fights with me? I'm pretty sure he's the Taylor I'm talking about."

"Ah, I see where the confusion came from." Shiro muttered to himself. "Anyway, why are you mad? I thought you wanted to be a fighter pilot."

"I do. The thing is that Taylor's barely hanging off the minimum points to get in." Keith said, stabbing his cereal, milk sloshing around his bowl. "If he doesn't make a higher score, he's gonna be a cargo pilot."

Shiro was silent for a few seconds, taking in the young boy in front of him. "Well, that's one less rival for you, isn't it? Why are you so worried if he'll make it or not?"

"Well, yeah – but no – but –" Keith stuttered as his voice petered out, a dark blush spreading upon his cheeks. "Shut up! I'm not worried!"

"Sure, Keith." Shiro grinned. "Whatever makes you feel better."

The results came out a week later. Keith ascended to fighter class, but Taylor's name was nowhere to be seen.

4.

No. Everything was wrong. He couldn't – wouldn't believe it. Shiro couldn't be dead.

Murmurs rippled across the cafeteria as the news of the missing – presumed dead – members of the Kerberos mission flashed across the television screen.

Keith felt like throwing up. Punch something. Scream. He needed to get out. This place was too cramped.

He jumped as two hands firmly gripped his shoulders. His eyes focused onto two blue orbs that glimmered like the waves of an unsettled ocean. His mouth was saying something. It was his name.

"-eith…..Keith…Hey, Keith, buddy."

Keith blinked as he came back to reality. Concern was plastered on Taylor's face. "Hey, you okay?"

It was too much. His feelings were too jumbled up inside him. He said roughly, "I'm fine."

Shrugging off the hands from his shoulders, he turned away, not daring to look back, not wanting to see pity from anyone, most of all from him.

Keith didn't need any pity. He needed answers.

5.

This was for the best. Keith tightened his grip on the strap of his bag. With mastered silence, he slipped out of his dorm room. Within minutes, he was up in the rooftops where he had parked his hovercraft the day before.

Just as he was about to rev up the engine, a familiar voice carried out into the open. "Keith?"

His heart skipped a beat. Out of all the people in the world - Cursing silently, he looked back. Taylor stood there, light spilling from behind him, casting long shadows on the ground. He really didn't want to see him right now.

"What do you want?" Keith growled.

Taylor took a step back, startled then frowned suspiciously. "What are you doing here? And how did you get that?"

"Like I would tell you." Keith snorted. His fingers tightened around the handles. If he spent one more minute around him, he was going to say something he might regret.

"Woah, buddy, chill." Taylor held his arms up in defense and smirked. "I'm not gonna rat on you just cause the problem kid liked sneaking out."

Keith rolled his eyes. A silence settled between them. Then Taylor said quietly, "I'm sorry about Shiro."

"He's not dead." Keith snapped. "The Garrison's hiding something and I plan to figure out why. So can you leave off and mind your own business."

What looked like hurt passed Taylor's face. Then his eyes hardened. "Whatever, mullet."

With that, he turned around and walked away, shutting the door behind him, leaving Keith alone in the dark.

+1

"No. Nope. No no no no. No you don't. I'm saving Shiro."

 _Holy shit it's Taylor._ Keith's eyes widened. _Quick. Say something._

"Who are you?"

 _Fuck._

"Uhhh, the name's Lance?"

Wait. What?

* * *

*cackles*

With Lance being his petty self, of course he'd pretend to forget the bonding moment as revenge against Keith forgetting him (which *news flash* Keith did not. He's just very very gay and very misinformed. For like, five years. since they were twelve.)

anyway, thanks for reading! I hope you liked it! see y'all next time!


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